Truro Police enquiries office has closed and staff will now be sharing a public enquiry office with Cornwall Council under a co-location scheme which could spread to other Cornish towns.

The office moved this week from its existing location in Lemon Street to the council's offices at Pydar House on Castle Street.

The force has said it hopes the move will benefit people who need to access both police and council facilities in the Truro area, and the new office will be able to provide the same services as other enquiry offices, including crime and accident reporting and any general police related enquiry.

Truro sector inspector Rick Milburn said: “This new police enquiry office is an excellent example of how we are trying to build closer links with our partner agencies within Cornwall and Isles of Scilly.

“Providing both services in one location benefits members of the public as well as us as a police force. People will be able access the services of either the police or council, individually, or both at the same time if they wish. We also hope it will be easier to share information between ourselves and the council by making this move.

“We are extremely pleased to be the first to initiate this new way of working and hopefully it will prove beneficial with more co-located offices to follow.”

The move has also been welcomed by Kieran Topping, Cornwall Council’s service director for commercial services, who said: “This project represents a significant amount of work between colleagues in the police and the council. We are pleased to see it come to fruition and look forward to the new facility becoming a familiar and useful part of our joint services to the residents of Truro”.

The new police enquiry office will be open from Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays, from 9am to 5pm, but closed daily between 1.15pm and 2pm to allow staff to perform administration duties.